Shingle joint insert



0a. 31, 144. .i. BLACK SHINGLE JOINT msEri-f Filed Jan. 12, 1944 s Sheets-sheet 1 J. E. BLACK SHING'LE JOINT INSERT Oct. 31, 1944.

Filed Jan. 12, 1944 a Sheets-Sheet 2 w z z a \\K\\ /V 7/ V///////Q// fi h 1 made to the accompanying'drawings in which:

Patented Oct. 31, 1944 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SHINGLE JOINT INSERT- James E. Black, Chicago, 111., assignor, bymesne assignments, to James E. Black, Elam L. Black,

Whitfield J. Black, and Virginia Black, a part-. nership doing business as Black Systems, Chia e. Ill.

Application January 12, 1944, Serial No. 517,931 '5 Claims. f (01. s 9) My invention relates to shingle joint inserts. The object and accomplishment of the invention is to provide inserts that practicably may be installed to give long continuing excellent service as constituent parts of wall and roof coverings.

Shingle joint inserts of the prior art have been of three types-i. e., firstly, the initially straight strip type; secondly, the all metal type, and thirdly, the metal and wood wedge type.

The prior art inserts of the initially straight strip type have been of but limited usefulness i because of their characteristic tendency to sag recognized and overcome by the present invention.

Figure 1 is a perspectiveview depicting several partially shingledwalls of a building in construction;

Fig. 2 is a fragmentary elevational view of four courses of shingles on one of the aforesaid walls; Fig. 3' is a vertical sectional view which may be regarded as taken on the line 33 of .Fig. 2 and looking horizontally. as indicated by the arrows; I

Fig. 4 isa horizontal sectional view which may be regarded as taken on the line 4-4 of Fig. 2

" and looking upwardly as indicated by the arrows;

Fig. 5 is a horizontal sectional view which may be regarded as taken on the line 5-5 of Fig. 1

. and looking upwardly as indicated by the arbe regarded as'taken'l on' the line 6-6 ofFig. 1

= and looking upwardly as indicated by the ar- Salient problem-solving features and'charac- I teristics of an insert of the present invention are these: it comprises a thin elongated outer stratum of impregnated felt to which adheres a shorter inner stratum in the nature ofa -wedgeshaped solid cushion formed essentially of a bitumen that is deformable, flexible, cohesive and glutinous; the thicker end of the wedge-shaped stratum is spaced from the proximate end of the felt stratum and the other proximate ends of the two strata are preferably similarly spaced; the aforesaid strata constitute an integral mass in which a hole-closing cold flow action takes place when the insert is pierced by nails; and the wedge-shaped stratum is longitudinally cor.- -rugated, or otherwise provided with endwise extending ridges and grooves, to accommodate the aforesaid cold flow action, to permit ready adaptation of the insert to the internal and external corners of a wall or roof being shingled, and to. facilitate reduction of the inserts transverse dimension or'its separation from a long strip of which it initially forms a part. I

' These and other features, objects-and advantages of pryinvention will appear from the fol-' lowing detailed description wherein reference is I rows;

Fig. 6 is a horizontal sectional view which may rows;

Fig. 7 is a. perspective inner-surface-up view of the preferred form of my improved shingle j oint insert; 25

Fig. 8 is alongitudinal sectional view which may be regarded as taken on the line 8-8 of Fig. 7 .and looking in the direction indicated by the arrows; v 3

Figs. 9 and 10' are views, similar to Fig.1,

illustrating other desirable forms of the insert;

and

Fig. 11 is a perspective view'illustrating a coil of two strips from which inserts of the present invention readily may be separated when required.

Similar, characters of reference. referto similar parts throughout the several views. Referring firstto Figs. 4 to 8 inclusive, the insert theredepicted comprises an outer stratum I5 in the form of a readily pliable felt strip that has been impregnated. with low melting point asphalt. The felt employed usually will consist of vegetable fibers such as those from cotton rags and wood, but desirably may include some wool fibers.

Tenaciously adhering which constitutesa longitudinally tapering cushion. Such tapering cushion lfi-is form'ed of a material that 1st readily deformable, flexible, co-

hesive and glutinous, and which is prepared andapplied to the felt stratum as follows: Sixty parts,

F. and -5 00. F., and while ;tlius l 1eated-,- isthorto the outer or felt stratum I5 is .-a shorter intermediate stratum l6- oughly intermixed withforty parts of suitable mineral thickener such as slate flour. A coat- 7 ing of such mixture, approximately one-sixteenth inch (1 thick, is applied while hot to the felt strip f5. After such coating has been thus applied, it is sprinkled with veryfinely granulated stone or sand (not shown) to give it a third straturn in the'nature of a thin non-adhesive coat-- ing for the cushion. The assembly is now passed between hot rollers to form the'lbngitudinallyextending grooves 11, and the intermediate ridges IB, in the cushion IS. The depth of the grooves n and the height of the ridges" l8 gradually diminish from thetransverse shoulder l9 of the cushion to'atransverse line .20 '(Fig.. 7) Where both the ridges and the grooves merge'with and 'lose theiridentity in a very thin film 2| of the cushion material which partially (or wholly) covers the upper flap 22 of the insert. The insert also has a lowerfflap 23 which preferably is partially (or wholly) covered by a very thin film 24 of the cushion material. The films 2| and 2,4,

like the cushion I6, have been sprinkled with the aforesaid finely granulated stone or sand (not shown). The insert is now readyfor use.

In Fig. 1 I have shown buildingsheathing 25 in the-process of being covered with composition shingles 26 conventionally laid, with the shingles of alternate courses aligned, with the vertical edges of the shingles abutting corresponding edges of. contiguous shingles and with each shingle above the lowermost course slightly overholes formed'in the insert-this. cold flow hole sealing action being accommodated by the cushion grooves H which enable the material of the:

cushion ridgesreadily to deform when, upon the driving home of the nails the insert is squeezed in the space between the sheathing and the shin-- gles. The adhesiveness of the cushion material is sufficient permanently to hold the cushion straturn and the felt stratum firmly united despite.

any deformations undergone by the cushion.

My improved inserts, as hereinbefore described,

readily may be bent along the lines of their medial grooves to adapt themselves to the interior and external corners of a wall or roof being 'slfingled- -as depicted in Figs. 5 and 6. At such corners the upper flap 220i each insert under.-

lies both angularly disposed portions of the cushion of the insert associated with the next higher how two such strips, wtih their cushion portions lapping a shingle or shingles of .the next lower course. The shingles shown, being of the rigid variety, are provided with pre-formed apertures for the reception of the holding nails'2'l and the lap gauge nails 28. When the lap gauge nails 28 are employed, they passthrough the shingles of full length midway between their ends and ata distance above their lower edges corresponding with the desired degree of shingle lap,

As the shingling proceeds upwardly, course by course, the inserts of my presentinvention are so disposed as to underlie and completely generously bridge the joints between each laterally contiguous pair of shingles being laid, and to project somewhat abovethe aligned upper edges of such shingles-all as clearly depicted in Figs. 1, 2 and v 3. More specifically each insert (except those employed at the corners of the shingled walls) is disposed with its felt stratum I5 engaging the pair of shingles having their vertical joint bridged by the'insert, its tapering cushion l6 engaging the sheathing 25, its transverse shoulder l 9 engaging the upper edge of the adjacent shingle in the next lower course, its lower flap 23 overlapping the outer face of such last-mentioned shingle, and its upper fiap disposed to underlie the lower portion of the adjacentshingle in the next course to be laid. With each insert so disposed, its tapering cushion I6 becomes pierced by holding nails 21, and its upper flap 22 may be I pierced by one of the lap gauge nails 28 when the latter are employed.

The cushion of each insert is compressed in the space, between sheathing and shingles, which it occupies, and functions to hold its associated felt stratum tightly against the under faces of the abutting shingleswhich the insert underlies. As

such shingles are laid, the cushion adapts itself to irregularities in the sheathing and, when rigid shingles are being applied, acts yieldingly to protect the'shingles against hammer'blow breakage.

Moreover, and very important, the material of the cushion acts, by cold flow action, to seal nail reversely disposed face to face, conveniently may be coiled together for handling and shipment,

Inserts oi the kinds depicted in Figs. 7, 9 and 10 readily adapt themselves to bundling in packages having all sides rectangularthe appropriate manner of stacking the inserts for such bundling being to dispose the thick end of the cushion of each insert opposite the thin end of v the cushion of each contiguous insert.

Fig. 9 illustrates an insert of the present invention provided with grooves Ila and ridges Illa differing somewhat from the corresponding grooves and ridges 18' of the insert depicted in Fig. 7; and Fig. 10 illustrates how, if desired, the grooves and ridges may be omitted from the insert if the user is willing to forego the here inbefore. discussed advantages afforded thereby. Aside from the matter of grooves and ridges, the inserts of Figs. 9 and 10 are formed in the same manner, and with the same materials. as is presents a flexible flap adapted to overlie a shingle having its upper edge engaged by said shoulder.

the insert of Fig. 7.

The improved. shingle inserts of the present invention are useable in roof coverings as well as sidewall coverings and with flexible or semiflexible shingles as well as with shingles of the rigid variety. Within the meaning of this specification and its appended claims the term .shingles includes any strips of wall or roof covering which abut end to .end in ,overlappi Having thus illustrated and described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States, is:

. 1. A shingle insert comprising: a pliable felt strip of suflicient width to be overlapped by the abutting .edges of shingles to prevent leakage laterally from the crack between said edges, and

a cushion adhering to one face of such felt'strip,

such cushion consisting of --a-'bitumen and a thickener therefor and being readily deformable, cohesive and glutinous, one. end of the cushion constituting a shoulder disposed transversely of the felt strip and being spaced from the corresponding end of the felt strip so that the insert 2. A shingle insert comprising: a pliable felt I strip of sufllcient width to be overlapped by the abutting edges of shingles to prevent leakage laterally from the crack between said edges, and a cushion adhering to one face of said felt strip, said cushion consisting of a bitumen and a thickener therefor and being readily deformable, cohesive and glutinous, the ends of said cushion being spaced from the ends of the felt strip so that the insert presents flexible flaps projecting beyond the ends of the cushion, said cushion being of substantial thickness at one of its ends,

presenting a transverse shoulder at'such end,

and tapering away from said shoulder in the longitudinal direction.

3. A shingle insert comprising: ,a pliable felt strip of sufllcient width'to be overlapped by the abutting edges of shingles to prevent leakage laterally from the crack between said edges, and

, a cushion adhering to one face of said felt strip,

said cushion consisting for the most part of a bitumen and being readily deformable, cohesive and glutinous, one end of the cushion constituting a shoulder disposed transversely of the felt strip and being spaced from the corresponding end of the felt'strip so that the insert presents a flexible flap adapted to overlie a shingle having its upper edge engaged by said shoulder, said cushion being provided with longitudinal ridges and grooves substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

4. A shingle insert comprising: a pliable felt strip of sufiicient width to be overlapped by-the abutting edges of shingles to prevent leakage w presenting a longitudinal shoulder at such end,

tapering in the longitudinal direction away from said shoulder,v and provided with longitudinally extending ridges and grooves substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

m 5. 'A shingle insert comprising: a pliable felt strip which isof sufilcient width to be overlapped by the abutting edges of'shingles to prevent leakage laterally from the crack between said edges, and a cushion adhering to one face of such felt 2n strip and spaced from the ends of the latter to leave the insert with flexible flaps projecting beyond the ends of the cushion, said cushion consisting largely of a bitumen and being readily defo'rmable, cohesive and glutinous, said cushion being of substantial thickness at one end and there presenting a transverse shoulder, said cushion tapering in the longitudinal. direction i away from J said shoulder, and said cushion being provided with a plurality of longitudinal ridges 30 and grooves, the depth of said grooves and the height of said ridges diminishing progressively away fromsaid shoulder.

- JAMES E. BLACK. 

